Native American - Acorns (part 4 of 4)

This is a continuation of what I have learned about acorn preparation. 
Also see part 1, part 2, and part 3.

Pomo boiling basket, stones, and tools

Acorn (Quercus sp.)

Part 4:  Cooking

The Yosemite Miwok/Paiute Indians cooked the one layer into a mush called nuppa.  When working with the fine layer, they made akiva (soup), and with the coarse layer, they made nuppa or water biscuits, uhlley.  The traditional cooking method involved baskets and hot stones.  The thick layer of acorn that sometimes stuck to the stones when they were removed from the cooking basket made a special treat for the children, called acorn chips.  These were made when the acorn had cooled and hardened, and was then peeled off the stones.  (Ortiz, 116-117)

The baskets were soaked for several hours, then sealed even further by rubbing some of the flour on the basket’s inside surface.  Then the rest of the flour and water was added.  “The volume of water varies according to the age of the acorns.  Acorns stored for ten years don’t thicken as readily as younger acorns, so less water is used.  Less water is also used with ‘green’ acorn, which thickens readily.”  (Ortiz, 110)

The cooking stones, often made of basalt or soapstone, were heated in a fire, often taking 30 minutes or longer to become red-hot.  One at a time, they were lifted from the fire with sticks and quickly dipped into water twice to remove ash from their surface.  Then they were gently placed in the cooking basket and rolled around.  “Within minutes, the mush begins to bubble, boil, blurp, and steam, filling the air with a nutty scent.  Finally, four to six or more rocks later, the meal is completely cooked to the desired soup or mush consistency.”  (Ortiz, 114)

The Eastern Mono, Southern Diegueño, Luiseño, and Kamia boiled their acorn in ceramic pots.  The Gabrielino used steatite vessels.  But the use of baskets and stones was a customary practice in the central and northwestern regions.  (Heizer and Whipple, 304)

When it is fully cooked, acorn has a subtle, delicate, nutty flavor.  It is rarely seasoned, except by the use of one last cooking stone, which is removed from the fire, rinsed, then lowered to the surface of the acorn and moved over the top of the food to “scorch” it.  (Ortiz, 116)

The Paiute sometimes seasoned their acorn by pounding it with clean incense cedar leaves.  (Ortiz, 116)  The Yurok slightly parched their acorns before pounding; the Shasta roasted the moistened meal; the Pomo, Lake Miwok, and Central Wintun mixed red earth with the meal; and the Plains and Northern Miwok sometimes mixed ashes of Quercus douglasii bark with it.  (Heizer and Whipple, 304)

Cooked acorn jells readily in cold water, which is a test for beginners to learn when to stop cooking it.  The uhlley water biscuits utilized this property:  once the nuppa was cooked, it was dropped into a tub of cold water from a wet bowl, forming a “pretty shell-like shape, somewhat curved in on itself.”  (Ortiz, 117)  The tub also contained incense cedar branches, the oils from which gave the uhlley a “refreshing, foresty taste.”  (Ortiz, 118)

Another way the acorn was prepared was to form acorn cakes, small round patties which were placed on a hot stone to cook.  The flat stone had previously had a fire built on it, which was removed when the stone was hot, and the surface was swept clean.  (Ortiz, 116)  The Ohlone made this, too, by “boiling the mush longer and then placed the batter into an earthen oven or on top of a hot slab of rock.”  Acorn bread was described as “deliciously rich and oily” by early explorers.  (Margolin, 44)  Also, some Western Mono women cooked the flour and allowed it to congeal overnight before serving.  (Ortiz, 116)

Whether served as a thin soup, a thick mush, or a biscuit, cake, or bread, acorn was utilized as a primary staple by California Indians because it was highly nutritious as compared to wheat or maize (Heizer and Whipple, 305), did not require farming practices like tilling or irrigation (Margolin, 44), and was extremely plentiful throughout most of the state.  In fact, “while the preparation of acorn flour might have been a lengthy and tedious process, the total labor involved was probably much less than for a cereal crop.”  (Margolin, 44)

Looped stirrers used for handling hot cooking stones

Here is a good introductory teaching packet regarding Native American food.

___________________________

I am trying to acquire freshly gathered acorns.  If successful, I will try my hand at processing and cooking them,

Native American - Acorns (part 3 of 4)

 This is a continuation of what I have learned about acorn preparation.  Also see part 1 and part 2.

Image credit: Goddard, P. E. 1903. "Life and Culture of the Hupa."

Acorn (Quercus sp.)

Part 3:  Preparation - Leaching 

The leaching container varied between groups:

Leaching in a sandy shallow depression or basin seems characteristic of the northwestern Californian culture area and most of the central Californian culture area.  The Luiseño and Cahuilla were the only southerners reported to employ this method, but they also employed the southern method of leaching in a basket.  The Coastanoan and Sierra Miwok of central California also employed both methods.   …  Beals reports leaching on bare hard ground for the Southern Maidu … The Shasta employed a device which seems to have been sort of a compromise between the sand-basin leacher and the basket leacher.  (Heizer and Whipple, 303)

However, the process was fairly uniform.  The sand was loosened to allow an easy flow of water.  After it was patted into a saucer-shape, the sand surface was leveled so the leaching water flowed evenly across it.  (Ortiz, 95-96)   The people of Yosemite Valley either laid the acorn flour directly on top of the sand or used pine needles to line it, until the late 1800s when they began to use a damp, thin cloth as a liner. (Ortiz, 98)  “The Kamia used a sand basin covered with a layer of foliage.  Some Eastern Mono lined the leaching basin with bark.”  (Heizer and Whipple, 303)  The Ohlone lined the basin with fern leaves.  (Margolin, 44)

Once completed, the basin should accommodate a layer of flour less than one-half inch deep, ideally one-eighth to one-quarter inch.  If the flour is any deeper, it will take too long to leach – the thinner the layer, the faster it will leach, and if it is too deep, the water will hardly go through at all.  A bed about 24 inches across and 10 or more inches deep with about a 2-inch lip will accommodate 4 handfuls of sifted flour.  The higher the sand pile, the quicker the water will go through.  (Ortiz, 97-98)

The acorn flour was mixed with water and swirled to suspend it.  Once poured into the basin, the coarse particles settled to the bottom while the fine particles floated until the water drained out, creating two layers that could be separated later.  Any lumps were pressed out to ensure they were leached completely.  After the water drained and the flour was packed down and nearly dry, it was ready for more leaching.  A waterbreak, often a pine branch, was used to avoid disturbing the flour by helping to gently spread the clear water across the entire surface.  The water was not allowed to drain completely; more water was added to keep the leaching going until the flour tasted sweet.  Then the water was drained until the flour was firm.  (Ortiz, 100-105)

Next came the removal of the now sweet and edible acorn flour from the basin.

A thin layer of acorn, like the skin on whole milk, sits on top of the flour once thoroughly drained.  This skin catches any dust or dirt which may have settled on the acorn during leaching, and is carefully scraped away with fingertips, then returned to the earth as an offering with a respectful, silent thank you.  (Ortiz, 105)

The part that is to be eaten can be removed as one complete layer or two layers, one of fine texture and the other of coarser flour.  (Ortiz, 105)

Native American - Acorns (part 2 of 4)

This is a continuation of what I have learned about acorn preparation.  See part one for more details on the references.

Image credit: Bella Vista Ranch, "Bedrock Mortars for Grinding Acorns"

Acorn (Quercus sp.)

Part 2:  Preparation - Pounding 

To be used, the acorn must be cracked and shelled.  Much of the description that follows is how the Yosemite Miwok/Paiute Indians prepared acorn, as found in Beverly Ortiz’s detailed book, It Will Live Forever.

One by one, each acorn is held between the thumb and the index finger with its pointy end stabilized against a flat, rough stone.  The stone provides a firm foundation for cracking, while its rough surface provides a place to secure the pointed end.

The flat end of the acorn, which was once attached to the oak tree, is then struck with the end of a small, elongated rock (hammerstone) to crack its shell.  (Ortiz, 49)

The acorn was cracked by tapping it gently two or three times, using a light, downward pressure.  When the shell split, a quiet popping sound was heard.  The shell was removed and the kernel was inspected for mold, mildew, or insect damage.  If any was found, the kernel was “returned to the earth” if extensive, or cut away if minimal.  Small black spots, possibly from incomplete drying, were accepted, but completely black kernels were not.  (Ortiz, 49-51)

The kernels have a skin that is rust-colored and bitter, and must be removed completely.  Some oak species have acorns with several grooves in the kernel, making it harder to remove the skin.  These grooves were opened with a knife.  Often the kernels were rubbed together by hand and rolled against the basket to help loosen the skins.  Then they were tossed into the air from a basket to allow the skins to blow away on the breeze.  Any kernels with stubborn skins were put back out to dry and then winnowed again. (Ortiz, 53-58)

The pounding process had specific techniques.  Some people used hoppers, bottomless baskets that were glued to a rock mortar to help contain the acorns as they were crushed.  Others pounded in shallow depressions in the rock, piling up the powdered acorn as a cushion between the pounding stone and the mortar.  The rocks used to crush the acorn were either “one-handed” or “two-handed”, depending on their length (6 to 12 inches) and weight (four to fourteen pounds).  (Ortiz, 66-68)

Beginners need about six handfuls of whole, freshly winnowed nuts to start.  A palm-sized, one-hand pestle is balanced upright in the mortar depression (even a slight, natural depression on a bedrock will do) so it stands by itself, then one handful of nuts placed around it.  Grasped by the right hand, the pestle is lifted, causing the nuts to fall into the depression.  They’re now in place to be crushed with several light, downward blows of the pestle.

These light blows are designed to prevent the nuts from bouncing around the mortar.  Once mashed, another handful of nuts is added and gently crushed using the same technique, although this time the pestle is balanced inside a small, bowl-shaped pile of crushed nutmeats.  The process is repeated until four handfuls of winnowed nuts are well crushed.  (Ortiz, 68-69)

Once a quantity of acorn meal had been produced, it was used as a cushion between the mortar and pestle, keeping the rocks from striking each other and producing unwanted grit.  Adding more nutmeats to that pile gave several benefits:  one is that the meal kept the nuts from bouncing around while being pounded; the other is that the nuts kept the natural oil in the meal from making it pasty.  “Whole kernels absorb the oil, preventing stickiness.  … If it is too sticky, the acorn flour will form little, beaded clumps during sifting, and it will not dissolve in water at leaching time.” (Ortiz, 69-70)

This process was repeated until the amount of acorn meal desired was created.  The next step was sifting the meal to insure its evenness. “You don’t want to have coarse and fine.  You want to have fine flour.  That’s the right way to make it.  … So fine it blows away with the wind.” (Ortiz, 85)  The coarse flour was either returned for more pounding or kept as a starter for the next day’s pounding. (Ortiz, 92-93)

Native American - Acorns (part 1 of 4)

I want to document what I have learned about the consumption of acorns in California.  This is a four-part series.

Image credit:  Dave's Garden, "Harvesting and Preparing Acorns"

Acorn (Quercus sp.)

Part 1:  The Gathering

Everyone ate acorn.  E. W. Gifford, “California Balanophagy” in R. F. Heizer and M. A. Whipple, eds., The California Indians - A Source Book, 2nd ed; rev. ed. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1971), 301.  Acorn was a staple food everywhere it was found in abundance and was replaced with piñon nuts or mesquite as a staple only in the desert regions where oak trees were scarce.  (Heizer and Whipple, 81)

Acorns contain tannin and phytic acid, both compounds that function as antinutrition, binding to minerals and interfering with the enzymes needed to digest food, thus preventing their absorption.  These phytochemicals make the acorns bitter and toxic. Some acorns contain more of the compounds than others but all need to be leached to make them edible and safe when consumed in quantity or with any regularity.  California Indians processed their acorns and in doing so, “obtained as much as 50% of their yearly calories from acorns, without experiencing harm” and showing “acorns can be part of a healthful, nutrient-dense diet, - but not in their raw form.” Arthur Haines,  "Do Sweet Acorns Still Need To Be Leached?", Bulletin of Primitive Technology, 47 (Spring 2014), 74-75.

The method of processing varied depending on the region, but many of the steps were similar.  The general approach was to:  dry the acorn, remove the hull, pound the kernel to a powder, use water to remove the toxins, cook, and eat. 

Leaching was the technique of choice for the majority of the people. (Heizer and Whipple, 302)  But before leaching could occur, other steps needed to be performed. 

When the leaves turn yellow, …, it’s acorn gathering time.  Acorns fall from the trees twice each season.  The first fall consists of unhealthy, worm- and insect-infested acorns, and it is left alone.

Winds bring the others down later, in late September or early October depending on the weather.  These good, healthy acorns are heavier than the others, a quality that is felt for as they are gathered off the ground.  Each acorn is also inspected by sight and felt for any bumps or holes.  The flawed acorns are left on the ground to return to the earth or be eaten by squirrels or birds.  Beverly R. Ortiz, It Will Live Forever: Traditional Yosemite Indian Acorn Preparation, as told by Julia F. Parker, 2nd ed. (Berkeley, CA: Heyday Books, 1996), 41.

The caps were removed and the gathered acorns were dried before storage or use.  (Miller, 87)  They were spread in single layers in the sun and checked regularly for insect damage.  Drying kept stored acorn from mildewing, hardened the shell to make it easier to crack open, and made it easier to pound the kernels into a powder.  Sometimes the drying was hastened by cracking the shell with a hammerstone or cutting it with a knife, if the acorn was to be eaten right away. (Ortiz, 45-47)

Created for long-term storage of dried acorns

Image credit:  

Handbook of Indians of California (1919), by A. L. Kroeber (1919)

An excellent source for a detailed description and photos is:

Miwok Material Culture: Indian Life of the Yosemite Region (1933)
by S. A. Barrett and E. W. Gifford

Be sure to click on the Plate links.

Ranchos - Pescado salmón asado á las parrillas, a Pinedo recipe

I am nearly finished translating Encarnación Pinedo's cookbook, El cocinero español.

What caught my attention recently was this rather simple-looking set of instructions.  You can find it on page 197:

My Translation:

I love salmon and my grill was clean and ready to play, so it seemed like the right time to try it.

My Redaction

10 ounces of salmon fillets

olive oil (fine, of course!)

salt and pepper to taste

two pieces of parchment paper, each big enough to wrap around both fillets

a preheated grill

I poured some olive oil in the bottom of a container big enough to hold the fillets and spread it around to cover the entire bottom.  The salmon went on top and then more oil was poured over it.  I pushed the fish around in the oil to make sure all surfaces were generously coated.  The container went into the refrigerator.

Pre-cold

My intent was to marinate the fish for about an hour, but a scheduling glitch meant I had to wait a day before I could cook them.  In total, they were in the oil for about 26 hours.  I think this did not make a big difference because the oil became solid.  

Post-cold

As the grill preheated, I put two layers of parchment paper on the counter and spread the top surface with some of the olive oil from the fish.  I then sprinkled some salt and pepper on the oil.  This wasn't measured -- I just sprinkled what looked like a good amount without feeling like I was putting on too much.

I pushed the pepper around with my fingers to get a better distribution.

Then I put the salmon on top and sprinkled it with more salt and pepper.

I reversed the thin and the thick sides.

Finally, I wrapped the paper around the fish, making a neat little package and tying it with a string.  The paper ends were both folded to the same side, putting more paper on that side than the other.

Two layers on top, ten on the bottom

The grill's temperature was 400 degrees F when I opened the lid, which I don't consider a very moderate heat, so I turned the flames down to their lowest setting.  The packet went onto the grill rack (bow side up!) over the two active flames, and I left the lid open while it cooked.  I could hold my hand over the heat for about 5 seconds before it became too warm to continue.

It took just a few minutes before I heard sizzling.  After ten minutes, I could feel that the upper surface was no longer refrigerator cold, so I turned the packet over.

I let it cook another five minutes and declared it was ready (and hoped I guessed right).

Here is the result when the packet was opened:

Notice the moisture and oil around it.  It smelled great, it looked great. 

 The Verdict

I served each filet sliced, on top of a Caesar salad that also had Romaine lettuce, fresh avocado, Parmesan cheese, croutons, and a Caesar dressing.

Dressing was added after the picture was taken

I tasted the salmon by itself first.  It was ... marvelous.  Moist, tender, flavorful.  The salt, pepper, and oil combination seemed to enhance the flavor of the fish without shifting it away from tasting like salmon.  Not too salty, not too anything.  I wanted to eat the entire filet right then after having the first bite.

My guest taster liked it, too.  He prefers his salmon to be very rare, so I was concerned I would overcook it with my timing.

It was not very rare, but it didn't matter to him.  He enjoyed it all the same because it was so moist and flavorful.  You can see in this close-up that the fish was cooked thoroughly, but it did not get dry at all.

The entire salad was excellent, too.  The salmon went well with the Caesar combination.

I loved this cooking method and would gladly do it again.  It was nice to know that I could cook it without overcooking it, that it would stay moist and flavorful.  A simple olive oil, salt, and pepper seasoning was just perfect.

It occurred to me that wrapping the fish in paper would be good for a party or gathering.  You could prepare the packets in advance, then cook them at the event, giving your guests their own packets of hot fish.

Native American - Seed Gathering

Picture credit:  California Horticultural Society

The Native Californians ate seeds.  That is something I learned early on in my explorations of their food habits.  I saw a number of references to it in the first books I reviewed and almost didn't put much focus on it because of the way their preparation was described:  "ground and cooked into a mush".  That didn't seem like a big deal; after all, the same was said about acorns but acorns are given a lot of emphasis in the literature.  The impression I got was this was common but not an important or even large part of their diet.

That impression was wrong.

My first error was assuming that seeds were hard to collect or that, if it was easy, no one gathered them in any great quantity.  My second error was believing the mush was made just from the seeds of a particular plant and that the food was bland or dull.  Then I came across this document:  

Edible Seeds and Grains of California Tribes and the Klamath Tribe of Oregon in the Phoebe Apperson Hearst Museum of Anthropology Collections, University of California, Berkeley

From the introduction (page 1):

California and Oregon Indians relished the taste of many kinds of small seeds and grains, gathered from the inflorescences of wildflowers and grasses. Packed with fiber and protein and loaded with flavor, these served as breakfast cereal, seasoning, snack, hearty porridge, and sustained Indian runners on long journeys. ...

These wild seeds were gathered from every kind of environment: chia from the Mojave Desert, annual semaphoregrass (Pleuropogon) grains from moist pockets in fog-dripped coastal redwoods, pond-lily (Nuphar) seeds from crystal clear freshwater marshes, and biscuitroot (Lomatium) fruits in chaparral openings. Today, western wildflowers offer visual sustenance to the hiker and subject matter for the artist, but in former times these plants were the Indian’s bread and butter. By knowing the edible qualities of the flora of one’s regional territory, California and Oregon Indians exemplified what it was like to truly live in a place-based culture where the local and regional flora becomes part of one’s physical, mental, and spiritual make-up. ...

The California and Oregon grasslands were the most productive breadbasket regions. Millions of pounds of seeds were gathered from the grasslands and vernal pools of the Central Valley; grasslands on serpentine outcrops throughout California and Oregon; the prairies of northern and southern California and Oregon coasts; the meadows of the various mountain ranges; and the cold and warm desert grasslands of the California’s interior...

"Millions of pounds of seeds" tells me this was not a sometimes food item.  The paper goes on to explain how the California landscape differed from before contact to after.  For example, originally the fields "were configured with perennial bunchgrasses and a few annual grasses, interspersed with annual and perennial wildflowers".  Then, with the arrival of Europeans, changes occurred (page 9):

... with the grazing of livestock, exotic grasses and wildflowers were brought into California both deliberately, through direct seeding for livestock feed, and unintentionally, through seeds carried in hay bales, folds of textiles, hooves of livestock, and a thousand other means (Gerlach 1998; Bossard et al. 2000). Many of these plants came from parts of Europe with a Mediterranean climate, very similar to the climate of California. Thus, they took hold and spread rapidly, growing in association with and also overtaking the native plants.

This would change what and how much was available.  "When certain nonnative plants replaced many of the native plants, Indians shifted their diets to embrace these new plants." (page 10)

Before and after contact, the seed-bearing plants the Native Californians recognized as important were tended and encouraged (page 4):

In many places where wild seeds were gathered, landscapes were tended. Plants were beaten with a seed beater, knocking the seeds into a wide-mouthed basket. In the act of seed beating, native women deliberately scattered seeds into the surrounding areas, acting as seed dispersers (fig. 3). Seeds were also sown, sometimes into burned areas and scratched in with a brush harrow (Anderson 2005a). According to Elizabeth Renfro (1992), the Shasta in northwestern California broadcast seeds, and many Shasta bands practiced controlled burning of areas to clear out undergrowth and encourage the growth of particular plants. While California Indians did not fully domesticate food crops, the saving and sowing of seeds likely caused some genetic changes in the native plants (Anderson and Wohlgemuth 2012).

My hope is to acquire different seeds and cook them in a variety of ways that might mimic what the Native Americans did.  I know I can acquire chia seeds in quantity.  I am not certain at all about other seeds, but that won't stop me from looking.  I need to explore what was available more thoroughly.

Native American - Introduction

Picture credit:  California Intermountain Culture

Their Food Lives in California

Living in a land of great plenty … There is no record of starvation anywhere in Central California.  Even the myths of this area have no reference to starvation.  All around the Ohlones were virtually inexhaustible resources; and for century after century the people went about their daily life secure in the knowledge that they lived in a generous land, a land that would always support them.  Malcolm Margolin, The Ohlone Way - Indian life in the San Francisco-Monterey Bay area (Berkeley, CA: Heyday Books, 1978), 40.

The groups of Indians we call the Ohlone lived between Point Sur and the San Francisco Bay. (Margolin, 1)  They had available to them shellfish, fish, rabbits and other small mammals, birds, eggs, seeds, greens, pine nuts, acorns, and more.  (Margolin, 13-23)

California is geographically and ecologically diverse, so it is unreasonable to expect the entire state to be a land of “inexhaustible resources.”  Yet non-Indian observers who recorded the food gathering and eating habits in various locations found, sometimes to their surprise, a wide variety of items available, even in the desert.

“I cannot pretend to have exhausted the food supply for these Indians, but I have discovered not less than sixty distinct products for nutrition … all derived from desert or semidesert localities …,” wrote David Prescott Barrows when studying the Cahuilla Indians in southeastern California in the late 19th century.  David Prescott Barrows, “Desert Plant Foods of the Coahuilla” in  R. F. Heizer and M. A. Whipple, eds., The California Indians - A Source Book, 2nd ed; rev. ed. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1971), 306.  He listed honey mesquite, screwbean mesquite (tornillo), various species of Chenopodium (amaranth), agave, yucca, date palms, junipers, acorn, pine nuts, various cacti, and more. (Heizer and Whipple, 308-314)

It is that ecological diversity and the abundance it provided that allowed most California Indians to remain hunter-gatherers.   S. J. Jones, “ Some Regional Aspects of Native California”, in R. F. Heizer and M. A. Whipple, eds. The California Indians - A Source Book, 2nd ed; rev. ed. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1971), 88-89.  They didn’t require traditional agricultural methods because a generous environment provided a more-than-adequate diet.  (Margolin, 45)  The Chumash Indians of the Santa Barbara area, in particular, were noted for their hunter-gatherer skills: 

They had a technology – the tools and techniques – for collecting, processing and storing these foods efficiently.  And they had a trade network, stretching from the Channel Islands to the highest pine forests, which assured them access to a wide variety of foods all year round.  Because of their success in using the natural environment, they did not plant crops of corn, beans, and other vegetables as so many other American Indians did.  Nor did they raise domestic animals.  They relied, instead, on acorns and other nuts, seeds, roots, bulbs, and leaves from an incredible variety of native plants.  They also enjoyed an abundance of fish and shellfish from the rivers and ocean.  They were skilled at hunting the plentiful wild game:  deer, antelope, rabbits, birds and seals.  Beached whales provided an occasional feast.  Even such small animals as ground squirrels and grasshoppers were trapped and eaten. …

[Food] was usually so plentiful that they had ample time for leisure activities … There was time, too, for religious festivals and for the development of their arts and crafts to the highest standard.  … [The] Chumash were able to go beyond survival, to develop a truly unique and fascinating culture.  Lynne McCall and Rosalind Perry, project coordinators. California's Chumash Indians. (Santa Barbara, CA: John Daniel, Publisher, 1986), 12.

Only the groups who lived in the desert along the Colorado River bottomlands and the south end of the Imperial Valley did any farming, adding corn (maize), pumpkins, and beans to their diet.  Ralph L. Beals and Joseph A. Hester, Jr., “A New Ecological Typology of the California Indians” in R. F. Heizer and M. A. Whipple, eds., The California Indians - A Source Book, 2nd ed; rev. ed. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1971), 82.

So where the people lived dictated what they ate.  Ralph L. Beals and Joseph A. Hester, Jr. provide a broad classification in “A New Ecological Typology of the California Indians”:

Coastal Tidelands Gatherers (Estero Bay to the Oregon border)	shellfish, surf fish, acorns, game including deer
Sea hunters and fishers	sea fish, shellfish, game, acorns, sea mammals
Riverine (salmon cultures)	fish especially salmon, acorns, tule, game
Lake	fish, tule, acorns, waterfowl, game
Valley or Plains	acorns, tule, game, fish including sturgeon and salmon, fresh or brackish water shellfish
Foothill	acorns, game, fish
Desert hunters and gatherers	piñon, mesquite, game, a wide variety of vegetable foods
Desert farmers	farm produce, mesquite, fish

(Heizer and Whipple, 74-81)

Their diet was also influenced by the pacing of the seasons: 

During the rainy winter the Ohlones collected mushrooms, and in the early spring, they gathered greens.  Clover, poppy, tansy-mustard, melic grass, miner’s lettuce, mule ear shoots, cow parsnip shoots, and the very young leaves of alum root, columbine, milkweed, and larkspur were all used, some as salad greens, some as cooking greens.  Seaweed was gathered, dried, and used as salt. 

Soon after the spring greens appeared came time for gathering roots.  With their digging sticks the women pried out of the ground cattail roots, brodiaea bulbs, mariposa lily bulbs, and soaproot bulbs. …

Finally, throughout the summer there were berries.  There were berries to cook, to eat out of hand, to dry for later use, or to make into a refreshing cider: strawberries, wild grapes, currants, gooseberries, salal berries, elderberries, thimble berries, toyon berries, madrone berries, huckleberries, and manzanita berries – all of them growing in great numbers.  (Margolin, 50)

This description of the Chumash diet appears to be applicable to any group found anywhere in the state:  “Their diet was broadly based and included virtually every good source of protein and nutrition in the area.”  Bruce W. Miller, Chumash, A Picture of Their World, (Los Osos, CA: Sand River Press, 1988.), 87.  The primary food staples changed according to the ecosystem the people lived in, but they were adept at finding and utilizing the resources available to them. 

 

My Intent

I will utilize a variety of resources to learn how California native people across the state prepared their foodstuffs:  books, articles, blogs.  One particularly excellent book is Temalpakh, Cahuilla Indian knowledge and usage of plants, by Lowell John Bean and Katherine Siva Saubel.  Lowell John Bean and Katherine Siva Saubel, Temalpakh:, Cahuilla Indian knowledge and usage of plants, (Banning, CA: Malki Museum, 1972; reprint 2003)   It provides a long list of plants and their uses as documented by David Prescott Barrows and other observers of native culture, and the authors interviewed members of the Cahuilla to verify and expand on that knowledge. 

It is also a convenient book as I live in Southern California close to the Cahuilla region, making it easy to venture out to find the plants.  Keeping in mind the hazards of eating plants that have not been correctly identified, I will also utilize A California Flora and Supplement by Philip A. Munz and David D. Keck, which provides botanical keys for accurate identification. Munz, Phillip A. in collaboration with David D. Keck.  A California Flora and Supplement.  Berkeley, CA:  University of California Press, 1973.

Preparation descriptions in my resources vary; some are detailed while others mention only the final product.  If I am unable to find a description of Native American preparation methods for a known food item, I will utilize modern sources that appear to be using techniques comparable to what Native Americans would have had available at pre-contact.  When I acquire the food item, I will try the instructions and write about my experiences.

Ranchos - Making Chicos, a Pinedo recipe

On page 57 of Miss Pinedo's book, I found a recipe that described a stew that features a dried corn product called "chicos."  The recipe was simple:  first it described how to make the chicos, then said how to make the stew.

A look around the internet lead me to some New Mexico sites.  Edible New Mexico says this:

Chicos are dried kernels of sweet corn, traditionally roasted in an horno. Once rehydrated, they taste just like the sweetest roasted summer corn you’ve ever had, intensified. This is serious New Mexican food, completely obscure outside of the state, and even many who grew up here have never tried them. I’ve never seen them in a restaurant, but they are worth seeking out. They’re actually listed on the U.S. Ark of Taste, a catalog of outstandingly delicious traditional foods in danger of extinction.

I looked, but I could not find any reference to chicos in the Ark of Taste site.  However, I believe that chicos are probably not well known outside of New Mexico and most likely not well known in that state.  Which is surprising because corn isn't a hard ingredient to acquire.

I happened upon a big pile of fresh corn at the market, so I decided to make chicos.

Chicos.

Despues de cocidos los helotes, se ciman y se pone á secar el maiz en el sol. Se guarda en un lugar seco.

Cuaudo se necesita, se toma la cantidad necesaria y se cocina.

Poned el maiz despues de bien cocido en salsa de tomate ó se guisa con chile colorado y queso rallado.

Chicos.

After the corn cobs are cooked, their tops [are removed] and put out to dry in the sun. Store in a dry place.

When needed, take the necessary amount and cook.

Put the well-cooked corn in tomato sauce or it is stewed with red chili and grated cheese.

My Notes

I followed this article for more detailed advice:  New Mexico Nomad, "Chicos".

My three fresh ears of corn were put on a tray into a 170 degree F oven for 10 hours, then allowed to cool in the oven for 2 hours, then on the counter overnight.

Fresh from the market

After slow cooking for ten hours.

After that, I pulled back the husks and removed the silks.

The husks were tied together with a string and hung from a hook in front of a bright window.  This allowed them to get sun and air circulation for drying, and I didn't have to leave them outside to experience the vagaries of nature.

I noticed that the kernels smelled very good.  They were still moist under the husks, and the kernels that were not covered by the husks while cooking had turned a dark brown.

Beginning to dry.

After 2 weeks of drying

Close up of two weeks of drying

I let them dry for two weeks.  I noticed that the kernels were separating and they started feeling harder and not as moist.  They had also turned a more golden rather than bright yellow.

So I let them dry for nearly two more weeks, for a total of about four weeks.  The kernels were noticeably dryer and a deeper gold after that time.

After nearly 4 weeks of drying

The kernels were easily rubbed off the cobs, which I let fall onto a tray.  There were some small membrane-like pieces that joined the kernels.  Most of those I kept in with the kernels.  The rest I could blow with my breath.  I suspect winnowing the kernels in a wide basket would remove this if I really felt the need.

Off the cob

One thing I noticed was a darkened region on the cob below kernels near where the husks attach (on one cob) and on the kernels themselves that were slightly under the husks.  I wondered if it was mold, and I was concerned about eating these kernels.  I kept the ones from the cob because they were the same color as all the others, but left the ones under the husk because they were darker.

Mold?

When I originally translated the recipe, I thought the husks were supposed to be pulled up and tied, but after seeing this I reread what Miss Pinedo had written, "they were topped", and realized that she probably meant the husks were supposed to be removed, as the website I referenced said.  

What I got from these three ears was about 8 ounces of chicos, which I will cook with and report on in another post.

This was so easy to do, I am still surprised that people don't make this at home or that companies don't make it for sale.

Another day I brought home some more, smaller ears and decided to dry them without baking at all.  I pulled the husks off and placed them on a wire mesh basket so air could circulate all around them.  I was surprised that I got some mold on some of the kernels - possibly because they weren't roasted?  The good kernels were small, so they didn't add much to the chicos I had already made.  

Black spots are mold.